IBM bought Electromatic Typewriters in 1933, and Big Blue sold the first commercially successful electric typewriter two years later.

By 1958, IBM had sold 1 million electric typewriters. It introduced the first Selectric typewriter in 1961, which had a ball-shaped element inside that replaced the moving carriage and type bars.

But by 1991, IBM realized the personal computer would soon eliminate the need for typewriters. It sold the business that year to Clayton & Dubilier, which formed a new typewriter and printing company called Lexmark.